Samuel Beach Axtell Newspaper Articles

These three articles made it all the way back east to the New York Times.

From the New York Times, March 9, 1875, page 7 (only the first part relates to the Gov.):

Utah

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MALICIOUS ATTACKS ON GOV. AXTELL--A CASE OF
CONTEMPT OF COURT--ANOTHER ESCAPE OF PRISONERS
FROM THE PENITENTIARY.

Salt Lake City, Utah, March 8. -- There have been published in this city
for the last thirty days incessant attacks upon Gov. Axtell, the newly-
appointed Governor, who has been in the Territory about that length of
time. Charges have also been telegraphed to the press in regard to him,
which, he asserts, are false in every particular. It is not believed that there is
any dissatisfaction among the public with regard to his course.

On Thursday, March 4, Attorney George E. Whitney had a
disagreement with Judge McKean during the session of the court, and,
after its adjournment, as the Judge was leaving the room, he said: "If you
mean to say what I said was false, you lie." To-day an order was read in the
court to the effect that George E. Whitney pay a fine of $100; that he is
forbidden to practice his profession in this court until, in open court, at
such time as shall suit the convenience of the court, he shall personally, in
writing, make an unequivocal and acceptable apology for contempt of
court; that, in default of such payment and apology within one month, he
be disbarred.

There was another escape of prisoners from the Territorial Penitentiary
last night. The parties were John Goodman, indicted for assault with intent
to kill; George Lewis, for gambling; Charles Williamson and John Smith,
for stealing from a dead man; and Charles Buckley, for assault with intent
to kill; F. E. Ricks, indicted for murder and polygamy; W. H. Davis, for
connection with the Mountain Meadow massacre, and Shafer, under
sentence of death for murder, refused to leave.

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From the New York Times, September 29, 1877, page 1:

WASHINGTON

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The President and the Secretary of the Interior have decided to dismiss the
charges against Gov. Axtell, of New-Mexico, as vague and unsupported by
proof. The Secretary, in the presence of the President and others, this
morning expressed his intention of putting this decision on record as the
result of a careful investigation made under his supervision by Assistant
Attorney-General Marble. The charges, it is declared, were preferred by
irresponsible persons who do not sustain them under oath. On the other
hand, Gov. Axtell denied the charges promptly under oath and furnished
official documents fully refuting them. In addition to this, an unqualified
indorsement of his administration has been forwarded to the department
from the best citizens of all parts of New-Mexico.
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From the New York Times, December 26, 1877, p. ?:

A BURIAL IN NEW MEXICO

HOW TWO MURDERED YOUTHS WERE CONSIGNED TO THEIR
LAST RESTING PLACE--HEARTLESS CONDUCT OF THE PEOPLE.

From the Santa Fe New-Mexican, Dec. 17

The funeral of John Mellon and John Moore, the poor and unfortunate
men who were so cruelly and causelessly murdered at the north terminus of
La Joya Valley, in Rio Arriba County, on Tuesday, the 4th inst., took place
as per announcement from Harlow's Hotel, in this city, on last Saturday
afternoon, the bodies being deposited in the Masonic Cemetery with
becoming ceremony, in the presence of a large number of sympathizing
spectators. As the authorities of Rio Arriba County had made no provision
for the burial of the murdered men, except naked as they were found in a
shallow hole in the sand on the banks of the Rio Grande, in the vicinity of
where they were killed, this fact was communicated to Gov. Axtell, who,
with other of our citizens, contributed about $50 to be appropriated toward
a decent burial. A vehicle was sent to the place of massacre; the corpses
were brought to this city on Saturday morning, placed in neat caskets, and
given Christian burial. In the course of Gov. Axtell's very plain and forcible
remarks at the graves of the deceased he took occasion to say:

"It has been thought best not to have any religious ceremony performed
over these graves. We come together not as religionists, but simply as men
to perform an act of natural piety to the poor bodies of these murdered
youths. I have been requested to briefly express the sentiments we all
entertain as to the treatment the bodies of these murdered men have
received at the hands of the community in which they fell. This bloody deed
was not done in an uninhabited or savage country, but in the midst of a
populous community, in the vicinity of villages and near to churches, where
religious dogmas have been taught for the past 200 years. We observe,
first, that although the bodies were seen lying by the side of the public
highway by both men and women belonging in that neighborhood, and
although it was within a few miles of the county seat of Rio Arriba County,
no investigation was instituted by the civil authorities into the facts of the
case, and no attempt made, either by the citizens or authorities of that
county, to discover the persons guilty of this dreadful crime. Again, there is
no possibility that these young could have given any offense to this people.
They were traveling along the highway; they lay down on the ground by
the side of the road to sleep, having but one blanket between them. They
were very poor and entirely unarmed, and did not speak the language of the
country. Their appearance cound neither excite ________[illegible] nor
hatred, but, last and worst of all, when their dead bodies were found lying
on the highway, covered with blood from ghastly wounds, they were not
given decent burial, but were rolled together in a hole and covered with
sand some two feet only in depth--not even a rude box to cover their poor
faces. The first rains would have washed them bare and the coyotes would
have eaten them. You did not ever hear that this was so, but you surmised
it from what you know of New-Mexico. You subscribed money and sent
out men a journey of some 40 miles, and have brought their bodies here
and have placed them in these decent coffins, over these open graves, and
within the walls of this cemetery. These men were strangers to you, but
they were born of woman, and were related to you by the common ties of
humanity. You felt that if these bodies were allowed to fester in the upper
air they would corrupt the sources of both moral and physical life. You
come here and by your presence enter a manly protest against the brutality
with which their bodies have been treated. In the name of the mothers who
bore them, and of the fathers who will look long and vainly for the return
of their sons, I thank you for what you have done and for your presence
here."